Providing eye care to the underprivileged in Bandaragama

July 2013 │ Sri Lanka

As part of Deutsche’s ongoing support for eye healthcare in rural areas of Sri Lanka, the Bank sponsored an eye camp in Bandaragama, a village roughly 40 kilometres from Colombo, held on June 1.

23 Deutsche employees volunteered for the eye camp, journeying to the village on the early and rainy Saturday morning. Despite the wet weather, close to 800 people from the surrounding area turned up at the primary school which functioned as the screening site for the day. This highlights the increasing difficulty for these underprivileged rural villagers to access basic medical care.

The eye camp lasted from 8:00am to 4:30pm. Six qualified opticians from Colombo on site to conduct the screening process were ably supported by Deutsche Bank staff members who were involved in crowd management, writing prescriptions and providing refreshments.

600 villagers were screened for sight deficiencies. Out of the 600 screened, 451 villagers were slated to receive prescription custom-made spectacles, 55 villagers will undergo free cataract surgeries through Helpage Sri Lanka, while the rest were referred to government hospitals for various other complications which require extensive treatment.

Deutsche volunteers returned to the village on July 11 to distribute the custom-made spectacles to the villagers.